ICE’s misleadingly-named Office of State and Local Cooperation (OSLC) has announced the next step in the Obama administration’s efforts to drastically diminish the scope of immigration law enforcement. According to a draft policy document now being circulated among a limited group of stakeholders, ICE chief John Morton intends to prohibit not only his officers, but also local officers with 287(g) immigration authority, from busting illegal aliens who are discovered as a result of traffic violations.

…According to the draft document’s cover e-mail from Ann Yom Steel, a political appointee whose mission seems to be to harass and discourage local agencies who want to help ICE and who want ICE to help them, the agency is responding to the “many concerns [of immigration law enforcement critics] related to immigration detainers, including that they could distort the state criminal process or open the window for pretextual, minor criminal charges.” In other words, ICE believes the ethnic advocacy groups who accuse local cops and sheriffs of abusing their authority by trumping up traffic charges on innocent illegal aliens in order to have them deported. Therefore, all illegal aliens who violate traffic laws will get a free pass from ICE, unless they also happen to have committed other “real” crimes. The policy draft says: “Immigration officers shall not issue a detainer unless an LEA [law enforcement agency] has exercised its independent authority to arrest the alien. Immigration officers shall not issue detainers for aliens who have been temporarily detained by the LEA (i.e. roadside or Terry stops) but not arrested,” although the LEA may hold them without a detainer if ICE is coming right away (don’t hold your breath).

Vaughn points out that you can give your two cents to DHS. The comment period on this policy proposal ends September 30, 2010.